Adjustable reclining chair



Jan. 7, 1941.

H. LUCKHARDT ET AL ADJUSTABLE RECLINING CHAIR 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 28, 1939 L, .1 mm m (W {W M1 M ##M M M H. LUCKHARDT ETAL ADJUSTABLE RECLINING CHAIR Filed Jan. 28, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Im M F l 2 M KP, H t F 5 W f w n d n 5 atented Jan. 7, 1941 ADJUSTABLE BECLINING CHAIR.

Hans Luckhardt, Bcrlin-Dahiem, and Anton Lorenz, Berlin-Schoneb'em', Germany Application January 28, 1939, Serial No. 253,410 In Yugoslavia April 9, 193% Claims.

Our invention relates to an adj' able reclining chair, and more particularly to an adjustable reclining chair, in which a back-rest, a seat, a leg-rest and connecting link-means are pivotally d interconnected with each other to form a polygonal structure with unequal sides, and wherein one point of the polygonal structure is pivoted to a support.

In the hitherto known reclining chairs of the m above described type, the movement of the members of the polygonal structure is controlled by cooperating sliding means arranged on the support and on one member of the polygonal structure respectively.

One object of our invention is to simplify the construction of reclining chairs of the above described type.

Another object of our invention is to increase the stability of such reclining chairs.

W a'further object of our invention is to provide H.Zifelil'liflg chair of the above described typ in which the friction between movable parts of the chair, during the adjustment thereof, is reduced to a minimum.

5" In order to carry out our invention into practice, we provide an adjustable reclining chair comprising: a support, a back-rest, a seat, a legrest, said seat extending between a lower point at said back-rest and an upper point of said M leg-rest and being pivoted thereto, connecting link-means, said back-rest having at least one lower extension extending downwardly beyond the pivot point between the back-rest and the seat,'at least one connecting link, said connecttd ing link extending between a lower point of said extension and an intermediate point of said legrest and being pivoted thereto, said extension said seat the upper portion of said leg-rest between said upper and said intermediate point an and. said connecting link forming a polygonal structure having unequal sides, one point f said polygonal structure being pivoted to said support, and at least one guiding link, one end of said guiding link being pivoted to said support, 45 the other end of said guiding link being pivoted to an intermediate point of said connecting link. The arrangement of said guiding link-means permits the elimination of the hitherto usual cooperating sliding means and renders the construcdil tion and manufacture of the reclining chairs considerably simpler. Furthermore, the provision of the guiding link-means increases the stability of the chair. As any friction between parts sliding upon each other during the adjustment of the 855 movable parts of the chair is omitted, the user of the chair may easily adjust the parts of the chair to various positions while he rests on the chair.

The above-mentioned objects and advantages as well as other objects and advantages will be more fully disclosed in the following specification reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a reclining chair of the dentist or barber type,

Fig. 2 is partly a front elevational view and partly a sectional view of the reclining chair, taken on line 2-2 of Fig. l,

Fig. 3 is a left side end view of another embodiment of a reclining chair having the form of a club chair, the lefthand side frame being omitted,

Fig. 4 is partly a front elevational view and partly a sectional view of the reclining chair shown-in Fig. 3, taken on line 6-4 of Fig. 3,

Fig. 5 is a side elevational view of a further embodiment of a reclining chair, in which the support is swingably suspended from a stationary frame,

Fig. 6 is partly a front elevational view and partly a sectional view of the reclining chair shown in Fig. 5, taken on line 6-6 of Fig. 5,

' Fig. 7 is a side elevational view of still another embodiment of a reclining chair, in which only a single guiding link and a single connecting link are arranged in the middle of the chair, and

Fig. 8 is partly a front elevational view and partly a sectional view of the chair shown in Fig. 7, taken on line t---% of Fig. 7.

Referring now to Figs. 1 and 2, it indicates a back-rest, I2 indicates a seat, and it indicates a leg-rest of an adjustable reclining chair of the dentist or barber type. The seat it extends between the back-rest it and the leg-rest M. The front end of the seat i2 is pivoted to the upper end of the leg-rest at It, the rear end of the seat i2 is pivoted to the back-rest II] at i8. On either side of the chair the upper end of a bar 20 is rigidly connected to the back-rest III by means of rivets 26 and forms an extension thereof extending downwardly beyond the pivot point 18 between the back-rest and the seat. Two connecting links 22 one at each side of the chair are arranged below the seat l2. One end .of each connecting link 22 is pivoted to an intermediate point 28 of the leg-rest M, the other end of each connecting link is hinged to the lower. end of the extension 20 at 24. Theextension 20, the seat I2, the upper portion of the leg-rest l4 between the pivots l6 and 28 and the connecting link 22 form a polygonal structure having unequal sides, the shortest side being said upper portion of the leg-rest between the pivots I6 and 28.

38 indicates generally the support of the chair. Said support comprises a base 32 having a cylindrical portion 34 and a sup orting member 36 having a piston 38. The piston 38 is slidably and adjustably arranged in the cylindrical portion 34.

The lever 48 serves for the lifting or lowering of the supporting member 36 by means of a well known hydraulic device for example.

One point of the polygonal structure I2, I4, 22, 28 is pivoted to the support 38. In the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 and 2, this point is coaxial with the pivot point I8 between the backrest I8 and the seat I2. The pivot I8 is secured to the member 36 and passes through holes in the back-rest and the seat, so that the latter may rotate about the pivot I8.

In order to obtain various positions of the members of the polygonal structure swingably mounted at I8, the movement of the members of said polygonal structure must be controlled. For this purpose we provide a guiding link 42 on each side of the chair. One end of said guiding link 42 is pivoted to the supporting member at 44, the other end of said guiding link 42 is pivoted to an intermediate point of the connecting link 22 and 46. If the user of the chair moves the back-rest I8 to the left (as seen in Fig. 1), the polygonal structure swings about the pivot I8. During this swinging movement, the guiding link 42 controls the movement of the connecting link 22 and the members of the polygonal structure connected therewith. The guiding link 42 swings about the pivot 44 and guides the pivot point 46 of the link 22 along a circular path a. Thus, the leg-rest I4 is lifted and rotated about the pivot 28 and at the same time the front end of the seat I2 is lifted when the back-rest I8 is swung about the pivot I8 and is lowered. The dash lines illustrate the extreme reclining position of the polygonal structure. As best shown in Fig. 1, the extreme reclining position and the sitting position of the polygonal structure are limited by stops or lugs 31 and 39 arranged at the front end of the member 36 for engagement with the guiding link 42.

An arm-rest 48 is attached to the seat I2 on each side of the chair. If desired, the arm-rest may be detachably mounted on the seat and/or may be provided with means for adjusting its height, so that the chair may be used for any purpose, although this structure is not shown.

The chair shown in Figs. 1 and 2 has the form of a dentist chair, but medical examining tables may be constructed according to the same principle as well.

Figs. 3 and 4 illustrate another embodiment of our reclining chair, which has the form of a club chair. The support 38 consists of two side frames 58, one on each side of the chair, which are connected with each other by the transverse wall 52 and the transverse bar 54. The side frames 58 may be covered with a layer 55 of a suitable covering material, such as fabric, leather or the like. The upper edges of the side frames 58 form the arm-rests of the chair. The mechanism of the polygonal structure and its connection to the support is the same as that shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The only difference consists in the replacement of the bars 28 by extensions 288 forming an integral .part of the back-rest I8. Thus, the polygonal structure of the chair shown in Figs. 3 and 4 comprises the extension 288, the seat I2, the upper portion of the leg-rest I4 and the connecting link. The polygonal structure is pivoted to the bar 56 of the side frame at I8. One end of the guiding link 42 is pivoted to said bar 56 at 44, and the other end of said guiding link 42 is hinged to the connecting link 22 at 46.' As will be seen from the drawings, the guiding link 42 is forwardly inclined, i. e. its end pivoted to the connecting link 22 is nearer to the front of the chair than its end pivoted to the bar 56 of the support, when the movable parts of the chair are in the sitting position shown in full lines, so that the load of the user prepared to leave the chair tends to swing the leg-rest I4 into the backwardly inclined position.

The transverse bar 54 serves as stop for limiting the sitting position, when the lower end of the leg-rest I4 abuts against said bar 54. The extreme reclining position is limited by the upper edge of the transverse wall 52, which comes in engagement with the back-rest I 8.

Figs. 5 and 6 illustrate a swinging chair. The support 38 comprises two curved bars 58 of tubular material, one being arranged on each side of the chair. Said bars' 58 have substantially U-shape and are connected with each other by means of cross-rods 68 and 62. The polygonal structure I2, I4, 22, 288 is arranged and connected to the support 38 in the same manner as is true of the polygonal structure of the chair shown in Fig. 3. The legs of the U-shaped members 58 extend below the horizontal plane of the pivot point 44 between the guiding link 42 and support 38. According to Figs. 5 and 6 the support 38 does not rest on the ground but is suspended from a frame 64 by means of swinging arms or swinging connections 66 hinged to the frame and to the downwardly extending projections of the support respectively. The frame is In engagement with the ground. The arms 66 may be replaced by ropes or chains, if desired. The chair shown in Figs. 56 permits swinging movements in every position of the polygonal structure, 1. e. the members of the polygonal structure may be in a sitting position or in a reclining position. If desired, a device not shown may be attached to the chair, by means of which the swinging arms 66 may be locked, so that the support 38 is held in its position.

If the movable parts of the chair are in the sitting position, the connecting link 22 abuts against the cross-rod 62, so that the latter forms a stop. A stop for the extreme reclining position is formed by a cross-bar 68 forming a part of the frame 64. The back-rest I8 may abut against said cross-rod 68.

The chairs illustrated in Figs. 1-6 are provided with two guiding links 42 and two connecting links 22, one guiding link and one connecting link being on each side of the chair. If desired, however, a chair may be built in which only a single guiding link and only a single connecting link 22 is used. Such a chair is illustrated in Figs. 7 and 8. The support 38 comprises two side frames 588 of tubular material. Said frames are connected with each other by means of cross-rods 688 and 628. The arrangement of the polygonal structure and its pivotal connection to the support 38 is the same as that of the chairs according to Figs. 3-6. The chair has a back-rest I8, a seat I2, and a leg-rest I4. The extensions 228 of the back-rest are bent inwardly, so that their free ends face each other in the middle of the chair. One end of a single connecting link 22 is hingedly connected with said extensions 228 by means of a sleeve 18 em bracing the free ends thereof. The front end or" the connecting link 22 is pivoted to the legrest at it. A cross-rod i2 is secured to the side frames 58% and carries a link Mil loosely arranged thereon. The link 425i has two parallel arms, the front end of which is being pivoted to the link lit at it. The stops for limiting the sitting and extreme reclining positions are formed by the cross-rods tilt! and Mt! which may be engaged by the back-rest it or the link it respectivcly.

Every one of the described. embodiments may be equipped with locking means, by means of which the members of the polygonal structure may be held in any adjusted position, which the user of the chair may obtain while he rests on the chair.

We have shown stops for limiting the sitting and the extreme reclining position. In certain cases, however, the back-rest and the members of the polygonal structure may have such a length and such a relationship to each other, that the structure has a self-locking action in a predetermined reclining position.

All of the figures illustrate rigid supports. if desired, however, the supports may be made of the foldable type, so that the chair may be used as a deck-chair or garden-chair for example.

While the figures of the drawings show the extensions of the back-rest in alignment with the back-rest, the extensions could be arranged at an angle to the back-rest, if desired.

Moreover, the pivotal connection between the polygonal structure and the support may be spaced from the pivot point I8 between the backrest and the seat. For example an intermediate point of the back-rest or an intermediate point of the seat may be pivoted to the support, if desired, so that the polygonal structure swings about a pivot different from the pivot i8 con: necting the back-rest and the seat with each other.

While we have shown only chairs, we do not wish that the invention be limited to chairs only. The polygonal structure and its pivotal connections to the support may also be arranged in other articles of furniture, such as couches or the like.

We have described preferred embodiments of our invention, but it is clear that numerous changes and omissions may be made without departing item the spirit of our invention.

What we claim is:

1. An adjustable reclining chair comprising: a support, a back-rest, a seat, a leg-rest, said seat extending between a lower point of saidback-rest and anupper point of said ieg-rest and being pivoted thereto, said back-rest having at least one lower extension extending down wardly beyond the pivot point between the bachrest and the seat, at least one connecting link, said connecting linir extending between'a lower point of said extension and an intermediate point of said leg-rest and being pivoted thereto, said extension, said seat the upper portion oi said leg-rest between said upper and said intermediate point and said connecting linlr forming a polygonal structure having unequal sides, one point of said polygonal structure being pivoted to said support, and at least one guiding link, one end of said guiding linlr being pivoted to said support, the other end oi said guiding link being pivoted to an intermediate point or said connecting link.

2. An adjustable reclining chair as claimed in claim i, in which said extension is an integral part of the back-rest.

3. An adjustable reclining chair as claimed in claim 1, in which stops are arranged on the support for limiting the extreme positions of the polygonal structure.

4. An adjustable reclining chair as claimed in claim 1, the guiding link being in an inclined position with its end pivoted to the connecting link nearer to the front of the chair than its end pivoted to the support, when the parts of the chair are in sitting position.

5. An adjustable reclining chair as claimed in claim 1, in which the pivot point between the back-rest and the seat is secured to the support.

HANS LUCKHARD'I'. ANTON LORENZ. 

